Pennsylvania overhauls child sexual abuse laws
READING, Pa. — Pennsylvania overhauled its child sexual abuse laws Tuesday, more than a year after a grand jury report showed the cover-up of hundreds of cases of abuse in most of Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses over the last seven decades.
The central bill signed by Gov. Tom Wolf gives future victims of child sex abuse more time to file lawsuits and ends time limits for police to file criminal charges.
The grand jury report spurred several states to change their laws and other states to begin similar investigations.
Wolf said the new laws will help repair “faults in our justice system that prevent frightened, abused children from seeking justice when they grow into courageous adults.”
Wolf, a Democrat, signed bills to invalidate secrecy agreements that keep child sexual abuse victims from talking to investigators and to increase penalties for people who are required to report suspected abuse but fail to do so.
Wolf signed the bills at Muhlenberg High School in Reading, the home district of Democratic state Rep. Mark Rozzi, a champion of the legislation who has spoken publicly about being raped as a 13-year-old by a Roman Catholic priest.
“We know our work is not done today; it’s going to continue,” Rozzi said.
The main bill in the package ends any statute of limitations, in future cases, for criminal prosecution of major child sexual abuse crimes. The previous law limited it to the victim’s 50th birthday.
Victims will have until they turn 55 to sue, compared to age 30 previously. Young adults age 18-23 would have until age 30 to sue, where prior law gave them just two years.